Guitarist Les Copeland is one of the superb
talents from British Columbia, beginning his musical career as a country
blues guy with a bottleneck stuck on one of his fingers. He has
subsequently developed great versatility, adding material by jazz
guitarist Wes Montgomery and rocker
Chuck
Berry to his repertoire, among moves that would make his mentor,
Robert Johnson, want to hustle back to the crossroads for another
midnight meeting.
Les Copeland is a rambling blues artist who needs no one else to help
him express how he feels about his personalized music. He's an
exceptional guitarist, especially when he goes to the bottleneck slide,
and his soulful voice is distinctive, a bit gritty and dirty, getting
the job done time after time. All of these songs save one are originals
written by Copeland, depicting lost love, interest in trains, and the
push/pull of life based on his experiences growing up in Kelowna,
British Columbia, Canada. Cleary in tribute to 'Ry
Cooder,' where his slide guitar side comes shining through, or
distinctly influenced by fellow Canadian Jorma Kaukonen during 'Distant
Train,' you hear where Copeland has come from and is going toward.
There's a sweeter, jazz swing element to 'Ginseng Girl,' a tougher
persona a la
Muddy Waters during an interpretation of
Robert Nighthawk's 'Anna Lee,' and a more deliberate aspect to three
specific selections where Earwig head honcho Michael Frank joins
Copeland on harmonica. David 'Honeyboy' Edwards gets in on another two
songs that demonstrate the low-down, slowed-down rural blues roots of
this music. So it's not all about Les Copeland, but he is that main man
on this delightful set of folk-blues with an edge that should be easily
favored by all stripes of purist blues enthusiasts. ~~ by Michael G.
Nastos.